Zechs' features tensed once again, but this was a welcome distraction for him. Talking about Treize was infinitely less painful than talking about Tyki. Not surprising. He hadn't meant for their conversation to travel down this path, but he wouldn't divert it.

Also, he was drunk. While he hid it well, it made him a bit more talkative about certain things than usual. Hakuba was merely lucky enough to witness it.

"For a time," Zechs acknowledged. "We were even close. Understanding ... was an important issue between us. We had felt there were so few people who could know the sorts of persons we were, beneath our masks. Who could share the visions we could see for the world."

Zechs' expression was dark. "Yet perhaps it would have been a better thing if I had not become friends with such a man."